Close to Home
by Franciscan Gypsy
Summary: um... working title. Enemies of Jack start getting serious...
1. Chapter 1

**Playing with Canon a bit because I'm really not sure what Sara does for a living. This story is very rough, but still enjoyable. I hope, lol.**

**BBBB**

Sara O'Neill arrived home from the hospital at 8 pm, tired and ready to soak in the tub with a good paperback in her hand. Three scheduled days of twelve-hour shifts in a row, with two days of working 8 hours for someone else was enough to make her embrace the weekend with uncommon vigor.

_I'm not coming into work for the next four days unless one of the girls is **dying.**_All of the nurses working on Martin De Porres Hospital's Med-Surg. floor were in good health, though, and she did not expect to have to come in before her time. Knowing her DON, she would probably actually get a few extra days off because she had gone "above and beyond the call of duty."

Sara hated sayings like that. They reminded her too much of Jack.

Sara juggled her lone grocery bag as she searched her purse for her house key, only to come up empty. With a sigh, she lowered the paper bag to the ground so she could search the stubborn handbag more thoroughly.

"Mrs. O'Neill?"

In spite of the fact that she hadn't considered herself a Mrs. for the past three years, Sara's head jerked upwards in response. She couldn't see the speaker and her hands froze within her purse. "Hello?" she called out tentatively.

Maybe it was someone whom she had known during her marriage with Jack, but she didn't recall giving her new address to any of those people. Her hands resumed their search for her house key. Irrationally she considered the possibility that she was being stalked.

"Who are you?" Sara demanded, her voice shaking a little, "I'm sorry, but I can't see you in this darkness."

Sinister masculine laughter answered her. "That is because I don't want you to. I'm here about your husband, Mrs. O'Neill." Maybe her fears weren't so irrational after all.

Sara shook her head, searching in vain for her invisible communicator. "I'm not married anymore. Jack and I divorced three years back. He decided that he preferred to die than be there for me." Some bitterness came out in her voice in spite of herself. It still hurt that Jack chose to wallow in his own pain over Charlie than mourn their son with her.

"I want you to contact him, Mrs. O'Neill," her visitor continued as if she hadn't spoken, "I want you to warn him. Tell him that he will be in trouble if he doesn't back off. Tell him that we know how to reach his team and we know how to reach you. Tell him that there is no place where you can be safe. Tell him he better back off – or else."

Sara drew back toward the door, her hands now viciously searching for her house key. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. It sounded like a remarkably badly written thriller. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"This is no joke, Mrs. O'Neill. We are serious. Contact Colonel O'Neill, Mrs. O'Neill and _don't_ involve the police. It would be a shame if you were to join your son, wouldn't it."

Sara had found the key finally, but her heart jumped into her throat at the mention of Charlie. Even three years later, thinking of him still hurt. "You jerk," she whispered and she shoved the key into the lock, swiftly letting herself in and slamming the door between her and her verbal assailant.

For what seemed like the longest time she stood there, leaning heavily against the door, her heart beating in her ears as she listened to the terrible man laughing at her.

"Remember what I said, Mrs. O'Neill," the evil voice finally said. "Remember."

As soon as Sara was sure he was gone, she stumbled toward her kitchen, letting her grocery bag and purse drop where they would. With trembling fingers she reached for the phone, but as soon as she gripped the handset, she couldn't stand it any more.

Sara O'Neill, a nurse who offered strength and smiles to her patients for hours on end, burst into tears on the kitchen counter.


	2. Chapter 2

Colonel Jack O'Neill was in the infirmary once again, this time recovering from a concussion gained from being too close to a Goa'uld concussion grenade and smacking his head on the ground when he fell. Doctor Fraiser said that the damage wasn't permanent, or even that dangerous, but she just wanted to keep Jack in the infirmary overnight anyway. Jack had made the nursing staff miserable with his complaints, so in the end, Janet had just gone ahead and sedated him.

Doctor Daniel Jackson tossed his friend and team leader an affectionate look.

"You sure aren't going to be a happy camper in the morning," he predicted aloud.

The night nurse smiled in amusement and warmth at the familiar sight of Daniel talking to an unconscious Jack and then returned to her work. Daniel sighed and leaned back in his uncomfortable chair rolling his head to lessen the stress on his neck. Jack had waited beside Daniel's bedside more times than Daniel liked to think about when the archeologist had been injured; it was the least Daniel could to keep watch with the Colonel through the night as well. Jack would yell at him later for not getting the proper amount of sleep, but would deep down appreciate it. Besides, Daniel was used to doing what he wanted in spite of what Jack told him to do anyway – why should now be any different?

An annoying ringing noise broke up the silence of the night. Daniel frowned as he tried to figure out the sound's source. The nurse had moved on to a different part of the infirmary, unfortunately, so he was left to figure out this puzzle by himself. The ringing lasted a few more minutes and then a single beep replaced it.

"Hey," a voice eerily filled the air, seemingly from nowhere. Jack's voice, Daniel realized, "this is the cell phone of Jack O'Neill. _Obviously _I'm not here, but off saving the world or watching the _Simpsons_. Leave me your name, number, and business and I'll decide if it's important enough to warrant my attention…"

Daniel dove out of his seat and yanked the cell phone out of Jack's pocket. As he tried to figure out how to answer, a woman's voice followed the beep after Jack's message. She sounded upset and scared.

"Darn it, Jack, where are you? I tried your house phone and you're not there either – this is not funny. I need to talk to you _now_." Daniel winced as the woman's voice broke as if she were about to cry. His finger finally found the proper button to answer the phone.

"You are never there when I need you…"

"Hello!" Daniel breathed into the phone, triumphant over his success over the wayward piece of technology.

There was a pause on the other end. Daniel could practically hear her blink in surprise. "Jack?" she finally asked, her voice eloquently confused.

Daniel winced once more. _Oops, another gaffe. Socially inept archeologist strikes again._ "Uh… no… um… I'm…. Daniel. Doctor Daniel Jackson. Jack…" Daniel glanced down at his friend. Jack what? Was injured during an off-world mission? Bumped his head _again_? Is in the infirmary? What exactly could he say to this obviously hysterical woman?

"Jack can't come to the phone right now," he finally settled on. "I'm a friend of his, though. Can _I_ help you?"

"Doctor?" the woman's voice grew suspicious and actually a little more afraid. Daniel wondered what could have possibly happened to frighten her so. "Jack doesn't like doctors. I _insist _on talking to Jack now, Mr. Doctor, or I will call the police and tell them that you have stolen my ex-husband's cell phone and possibly have kidnapped him as well."

Daniel stared at the phone in his hand as if it had grown two heads. _Wow; talk about vicious. She's certainly Jack's type._ "Are you Sara, then?" he asked, trying to make his voice reasonable and gentle so as not to agitate her more.

He almost immediately felt like kicking himself. _No, DUH, Doctor Jackson. Nice reasoning there, genius! How many other women do you think Jack has been married to over the years, huh? Idiot._

Sara gasped on the other end of the phone. "I'm warning you." Her voice was shaking now. Apparently she had decided that he was more than the common thief or kidnapper.

_She's** really** afraid,_ Daniel realized. He had to do _something_.

"Sara," he pleaded, "please listen to me. I really am a friend of Jack's. I work for the military, so he puts up with me in spite of my being a doctor. Jack is unconscious right now, so I can't put him on. _Do you need help?_"

"Jack's unconscious?" Sara's voice squeaked, "Oh, heavens, what did you do to him?"

Daniel felt like screaming and banging his head against the wall. She obviously needed help, but she was too afraid to trust him! Now he wished with a passion that his and Jack's situations were reversed. Or that the team astrophysicist Captain Samantha Carter had answered the phone instead.

Daniel let out a breath of frustration. "_I_ didn't do _anything_ to him. He got injured during a mission. Look, Sara, I want to help you. Help _me_ by telling me what's going on. If it makes you feel better, I can meet you somewhere public so that you can turn me in if you still don't trust me. Bring a friend if you need to. I promise, I'll come alone and unarmed."

Sara sobbed softly. "I need Jack."

"I know, Sara," Daniel replied gently, "and Jack will be furious that he wasn't able to take this call. But he's going to be even more put out if you get hurt because you wouldn't let me help you. Look, I can even send a woman to meet you instead if it makes you feel better."

There was a pause on the other end. "No. I feel better meeting someone I've talked to. I'm good at remembering voices and I'll be able to ID you better if I can recognize your voice. What do you look like?"

Daniel sighed in relief. Now they were getting somewhere. "I'm a little shorter than Jack and a little more solidly built. Not anywhere near fat, thank God. Uh… I've got longish hair…" He pulled a strand in front of his eyes so he could study it; then let it up again. "kind of light brownish color – looks blond in some lights. Uh… have glasses and light skin. I'm wearing a plain black T-shirt, green pants, and black combat boots. Does that description work for you?"

"Mostly," Sara agreed, calm entering her voice slowly, "what color are your eyes and how old are you?"

"My _eyes_?" Daniel blinked. "Uh… blue. But you won't see my eyes from far off…"

"I would just prefer to know, Doctor. And your age?"

Daniel felt like he was answering twenty questions. He ran a hand through his floppy hair, messing it up. "Twenty-nine." Scratch twenty questions, he felt like he was in kindergarten. How old did mommy say you were again, Danny? Well, isn't that nice…

"Meet me inside the front entrance of Martin De Porres Hospital, Doctor. I'll approach you and ask you about Jack's passion. If you don't know the answer, I'll scream and call everyone down on us. If you answer correctly, I'll listen for a while and only holler if my instincts tell me that you are lying. I suggest you leave now, Mr. Doctor. _I _am." Sara hung up resolutely.

Daniel stared at the cell phone in his hand before thoughtfully returning it to Jack's pocket. He leaned over his friend as if the Colonel could somehow hear him. "I've got to go now, Jack; your wife needs my help. Don't worry – I'll keep her safe."

The archeologist paused and then snagged his own cell phone from the jacket he had negligently tossed onto another bed. He now wished that he had not been so quick to promise that he would join Sara alone, but he had given his word and there was no way now that he would invite Teal'c and Sam along.

He just hoped he wasn't walking his way into a trap.


	3. Chapter 3

Sara kept a sharp eye at for Doctor Jackson as she hid behind the receptionist desk in the greeting area of the hospital. It was secluded enough an area for her to be frank, but in close enough proximity to the rest of the hospital for her to be heard and helped swiftly if she screamed.

Just when she was certain that the doctor wouldn't show up, the double doors opened and a young man of Doctor Jackson's description entered, studying the area curiously but warily. "Hello? Sara?" he called softly.

_It _sounds_ like him._ Sara popped up from her hiding place, but stuck to the shadows where the man couldn't see her. She struggled for an question that would verify that he knew Jack.

"What's Jack's hobby?" she hissed at him. It wasn't a very good question and she felt like an idiot playing spy, but it was the best she could come up with quickly.

The man whirled around in surprise, but recovered quickly. "Hockey and fishing," he whispered back. If he found the question absurd, he didn't show it.

Sara breathed a sigh of relief and turned on the lights. "That's right." She pulled up closer to the man and looked him in his eyes. They were blue. Breathing came even easier now. She held out her hand to him. "I'm Sara O'Neill, Doctor."

"Nice to meet you, Sara, and please, just call me Daniel." Jackson shook her hand, although his blue eyes studied her with something that Sara wanted to identify as concern. "What's wrong?"

Sara sucked in her breath. "My life has just been threatened."

"What?" Daniel jerked back as if he had just been smacked. The concern in his eyes flared up into full-fledged worry. "Have you called the police?"

Sara hugged herself, and she could feel tears creeping into her eyes. Furiously she shook her head as if that would make them go away. "No. He told me not to – or else." She met his eyes in fright. "He hasn't just threatened my life, or I might risk it and beg for protective custody. He has also targeted Jack's team and they might not know that they are in danger."

Daniel had to respect her for her guts in threatening him with the police even though he could have been one of those trying to kill her for all she knew. "Did this person say _why_?" _NID_, the archeologist's mind whispered, but he hoped that he was wrong.

"No," Sara shook her head once more, "He just told me to tell Jack to back off, or these people and I would get hurt." She looked up at Daniel hopefully. "Do you know who Jack's team is? Do you think you can contact them so I can go to the police for protective custody?"

Daniel didn't want to alarm her, but his suspicions seemed very likely at the moment. "If your threatening friend belongs to the group I think he does, the police won't be able to do a thing for you. I better take you to the local Air Force base for protection."

"Is it that bad?" Sara recoiled, staring at Daniel in horror.

Before Daniel could reply, the tinkling of glass breaking surprised them and a hole suddenly appeared in the receptionist desk. A year and a half under the tutelage of Jack O'Neill had honed Daniel's instincts and he reacted without thinking.

"Get down!" the archeologist barked, tackling Sara to the ground. The woman gasped, but was too surprised to protest. Another shot was fired, taking out the lights, but Daniel and Sara were not easy targets now. The darkness also worked to make them practically invisible.

There was silence and then an eerie laughter filled the air. A figure stepped into the doorway. "Sara, Sara, Sara. Thank you _so_ much, my dear, for delivering Doctor Jackson to me. I was afraid that I would have to go hunt him down and that takes up _so_ much time. He is the second best target next to you, you see. He's a civilian and your dear hubby feels _so_ responsible for him. Isn't that _sweet_?" The shadow leaned against the doorframe. "I was thinking about using him as an incentive – as a proof that we _do_ mean what we say," he remarked conversationally, "killing him should be _very_ convincing. What do you think, Sara?"

Sara's breath rasped in Daniel's ear and her blue eyes met his in terror. _Oh, no,_ she mouthed.

Daniel shook his head. _Shh.._ he mouthed back.

"Don't ignore me, Sara." The cruel man's voice grew hard. Sara choked back a frightened sob and she unconsciously clung onto Daniel.

Sara thankfully stayed silent and Daniel forced himself to consider escape options. Just then his cell-phone traitorously rang, giving away their position.

Sara and Daniel froze, mesmerized momentarily by the amazingly loud trilling noise. The sound of their pursuer's laughter spurred Daniel into action.

Daniel pressed the button on the phone to answer it and simultaneously snagged Sara's arm and yanked her behind the receptionist desk. Sara gulped with surprise, but willingly followed.

"This is _not_ a good time!" the archeologist hissed into the phone.

There was a slight pause. "Daniel?" Samantha Carter's voice sounded more surprised than hurt.

"Sam!" Daniel pulled Sara so that she was against the wall and he blocked any view of her from the side. He pressed his back against the desk. "We've got a situation here."

"We? Where's here?" Sam became business-like immediately. If it weren't for the distance between them, Daniel would have hugged her.

"Martin De Porres Hospital – please hurry!" A bullet flew past Daniel to dig into the wall in front of him. Sara let out a muffled scream.

"Daniel!" Alarm caused Sam's tone to rise. "I'll be over with Teal'c as soon as I can! Just keep alive!"


End file.
